DENVER, Colorado, May 30, 2024 – Dr. Alyssa Whitcraft, founding executive director for NASA Acres, NASA's new U.S.-focused agriculture and food security program, will be the keynote speaker at the 13th annual Women in Agribusiness (WIA) Summit, which will take place here this year, September 24-26 at the Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center.
Dr. Whitcraft also is co-founding deputy director for the NASA Harvest Sustainable and Regenerative Ag Initiative, which is part of NASA’s global food security and agriculture applications programming. This program brings together private and public sectors in a nonprofit pre-competitive forum to strengthen the evidence base for sustainable and regenerative agriculture. In both of her executive roles, Dr. Whitcraft is tasked with uniting top scientists from physical, social and economic sciences with agriculture stakeholders towards a shared mission to bring NASA data, science and tools “down-to-Earth” for the benefit of U.S. agriculture.
At the Women in Agribusiness Summit, Dr. Whitcraft will speak to this endeavor as well as NASA’s use of satellite data for monitoring, mapping and improving agricultural outcomes, and building trusting and mutually beneficial relationships with the producers whose on-farm data is the foundation of this work.
Additional speakers at this year’s WIA Summit include:
Camille Grade, chief market officer at Bushel, who will speak to “The Messy Middle of Agricultural Data” with a focus on collecting, standardizing and organizing data in a way that maximizes productivity and increases efficiency, as well as mitigates risk and drives profitability.
Mary Kay Thatcher, senior manager, Federal Government and Industry Relations, Syngenta, who will examine critical U.S. policy issues shaping the agribusiness landscape. This fifth-generation Iowa farmer was a lobbyist (on issues of farm programs, crop insurance, conservation and credit) for the American Farm Bureau Federation for 31 years before joining Syngenta in 2018.
Michelle Klieger, founding partner, Helianth Partners. This agricultural economist with experience with domestic and global ag industries will explore the pivotal market forces shaping the agribusiness landscape, from supply chain disruptions to consumer trends, in her presentation, “Navigating Today’s Market Forces”.
Also presenting at the WIA Summit will be industry-expert speakers from American Farmland Trust, CoBank, Farm Progress, Nutrien, Rabobank, Wells Fargo and more.
See the full agenda for details, and register for the 2024 Women in Agribusiness Summit at www.womeninag.com, and join us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
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About Women in Agribusiness
Women in Agribusiness, which took root in 2012 with the first Women in Agribusiness Summit in New Orleans, seeks to lead the growth in global female agribusiness leadership with a platform that encourages collaboration by coming together for overall innovation and development. WIA initiatives now include the WIA Today blog, WIA Membership, WIA MeetUps, WIA Demeter Award of Excellence, Student Scholarships and the WIA Career Connector. Learn more at womeninag.com.
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